This invention relates to a snow plow having an improved attachment means and an associated method, and more particularly, to a lightweight, portable snow plow that can be easily and effectively attached to a vehicle in order to use the vehicle and the snow plow to plow snow.
There are several known ways of removing snow from driveways, roads and parking lots, each of which have significant shortcomings. The first (1) is by manually using a snow shovel. This is a time-consuming, potentially hazardous and labor intensive activity. Furthermore, many persons, whether because of physical handicaps or infirmities, such as heart trouble, are not able to shovel snow or do so at their peril. The second way (2) is by using electric or gas powered snow removal equipment, such as a snow-blower. Although functional, snow-blowers typically cost several hundred dollars and have all of the problems associated with powered equipment, such as the need for maintenance, the possibility of breakdown just when the equipment is needed or is being used, and the real potential risk of injury to the user if improperly used.
The third method (3) is a vehicular mounted snow plow. These snow plows are mounted to the vehicle (usually a pick-up truck or sport utility vehicle) by a mechanical mounting device that sometimes includes an hydraulic mechanism for raising and lowering the blade. These snow plows are usually made of metal, and are very heavy and somewhat difficult to mount. These snow plows are normally sold and serviced by a dealer network. Furthermore, these snow plows typically are not feasible for the home owner who only occasionally needs to plow the driveway in order to gain access to street surfaces. For these reasons, vehicle-mounted snow plows are usually owned by commercial snow removal operators.
There have been suggested snow plows which are mounted to a vehicle without the use of expensive and intricate hydraulic equipment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,104 discloses securing the snow plow to the car by means of suction cups mounted on horizontal arms. The suction cups engage primarily against the hood of the vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,799 discloses a lightweight synthetic resin snow plow which is connected to the tow rings of a vehicle.
Commonly owned U. S. patent application Ser. No. 08/484,175 filed Jun. 7, 1995 discloses a lightweight, portable snow plow having bumper columns which contact the bumper of a vehicle so that the vehicle can push the snow plow in order to plow snow. However, there is no disclosure of an attachment means for attaching the plow to the vehicle.
Despite the existence of these inventions, there is still needed a portable, lightweight snow plow that can be easily and effectively attached to a vehicle for subsequent use in plowing snow.
The invention has met or exceeded the above-mentioned needs, as well as others. The snow plow of the invention includes a snow plow blade and a snow plow strap. The snow plow strap attaches the snow plow blade to a vehicle. In one embodiment, vehicle ring connectors are secured to the vehicle and complementary snow plow ring connectors, which have the snow plow strap threaded therethrough, are attached to the vehicle ring connectors by squeezing the snow plow ring connectors and passing them through the vehicle ring connectors. Subsequent expansion of the snow plow ring connectors after passage through the vehicle ring connectors attaches them together, thus attaching the snow plow strap and snow plow blade to the vehicle.
In another embodiment, a vehicle attachment strap is secured to a vehicle with vehicle attachment strap ring connectors being threaded therethrough. The snow plow ring connectors are then secured to the vehicle attachment strap ring connectors as was discussed above. The vehicle attachment strap can be secured to the vehicle by (i) looping it through bumper gaps formed by the bumper and the vehicle body; (ii) looping it around the top portion of a bumper and the undersurface of the chassis of the vehicle; or (iii) providing crevice anchors that are wedged into wheel well cover gaps formed by the side panel and the wheel well cover of the vehicle.
An associated method of attaching the snow plow blade to the vehicle is also provided wherein a portion of the snow plow strap is attached to the snow plow blade and another portion of the snow plow strap is attached to the vehicle.